It's so exciting to see the spiritual momentum at BHCC recently! We have set records for monthly average attendance in 7 out of the 8 months of 2018! PTL - because the Bible says, only He can grow the church! Our job, as His servant leaders is to do what we can to keep the church healthy and make sure there is nothing getting in the way of keeping it from growing because we KNOW, God WANTS to grow His church!

Our church has grown 12% over last year and that is considered excellent growth by church growth experts. And our giving has more than kept pace with a growth of offerings at a 13% growth over last year! We are so excited to see God working in us and through us! We are seeing many people come to Christ and many more people growing in their faith!

It truly humbles me. I am ever aware that I am simply the Lord's servant here in this place and I feel more like an observer than a worker most of the time. I am truly amazed to just watch how He shows up and brings about so many amazing things through...

Maybe it's the sunshine - or better yet - the SONshine! After a month of January lagging attendance due to very cold weather and a horrific flu season - it's exciting to see our attendance begin to flourish again and have so many first time visitors! Not only that - but many people are coming back every week! For some reason, we had a surge of visitors in 2017 and have retained MANY as part of our family! We gained about 35 new family members last year!

God is moving in exciting ways! Twelve people have taken our 101 class recently and officially became members of the BHCC family! (Including 6 of our Heritage Home members.) Several people have asked to be baptized!

Our newest small group, BHCC Community Connection, enjoyed an awesome dinner out recently with 10 people attending. Our Wed. night Bible study has 17 people in attendance. The Sat. bi-monthly women's group has been packed and is doing a study on how to study the Bible. There...

Next week begins our BHCC Fall Open House! My favorite time of year! Even though our church is really an OPEN House every Sunday - there's something very inviting about calling it an "Open House" to the general public. We're all used to hearing the term and we know what it means - that this is a special time set aside that we WANT visitors to come and check us out!

People know that they won't be the only ones visiting and will hopefully feel more comfortable with that knowledge. They know they are WELCOME and wanted at our church! Our message series is called "Starting Over - Your Life Beyond Regrets." We all need to start over sometimes. Maybe a start over in your faith, maybe a start over in a new church. Is there anything more enticing than the thought of a FRESH Start? That's what we know God is anxious to give us. But in order to start over, first we must move beyond our regrets and make peace with the past. That's what this new message series will help you do!

Easter us coming in less than 3 weeks! Last year, Easter was in March, but this year, Easter is the third Sunday of April! I love having Easter a little later in April because it means a better chance of warm temps and Spring in full progress!

Easter and Spring go so well together! I love seeing all the NEW LIFE in Spring which reminds me of our NEW LIFE in Christ! Things that have been hidden and dormant for so long - suddenly burst forth in living clarity! That is a great parable to what our new life in Christ becomes!

There are so many good and wonderful things happening at our church! I have been (personally) feeling the growth in a multitude of ways! Next Sunday is our annual CELEBRATION (Vision) Sunday! And we have a lot to celebrate!

One thing I am celebrating today is a new post someone put on our church's Facebook page yesterday. Regarding their first visit to our church, she said: "The most welcoming people I have ever met the most relaxed environment very informal and very refreshing....

On Palm Sunday of 2017, BHCC will celebrate our tenth year at being Church at the Movies! Wow! It doesn't seem possible that we've been at the theater almost 10 years! But wow, so much has happened in these years since that first Palm Sunday!

We have seen SO many people who have come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior in that time! We have done around 80 water baptisms since then! We have seen our average Sunday attendance grow by more than 100%!!! We have seen our yearly offerings multiply by about 130%! We went from one to two services on Sunday mornings in 2014!! We now have over 20 serving teams and MANY small groups! We have added 3 paid staff members! We have added video to our services and now make them available online as well! We have seen many new leaders emerge and continue to grow and bless our church with their leadership! It has been an amazing ride!

And there is probably more momentum in our church now than ever before! Whew - God has been VERY BUSY at this church and I couldn't be...

One thing I am very passionate about is encouraging people to be actively serving the Lord! This is something that is so easy to find a way to do in the Church. The Church is the body of the Living Christ and is always in need of more people working together to serve others. I don't understand how people can say they can be a Christian and not belong to a church. I like the one answer that says "Yes, you can be a Christian without belonging to a church but you can't be a good one!'
Still, I struggle with this idea as well. The Great Commission Jesus gave is for every single Christian: Matthew 28:19-20: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,C)" data-cr="#cen-NIV-24215C"> baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teachingE)" data-cr="#cen-NIV-24216E"> them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with youF)" data-cr="#cen-NIV-24216F"> always, to the very end of the age.”
In the local church, this is something we all do together...

The Lead Team is currently praying about changing (shortening) BHCC's Mission Statement to say: "Multiplying God's People and Purpose in the World." One reason is because that one short statement is much easier for everyone in the church to memorize. The other reason is we feel that it more concisely states what our church is all about.
We really like the word multiply because that is what Jesus is telling us to do in the Great Commission He has given to every Christ follower. Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

He wants us to multiply ourselves. He wants us to teach others what He has taught us. He wants us to baptize others as we have been baptized. Multiplying God's people is the mission that the church has been given and that well describes the church of BHCC!

I can't stop thanking God and praising HIM for all He continues to do in and through BHCC!!!

Here's just a few of the exciting things He has done recently!

Yesterday, five people took BHCC 101 and 'officially' joined our church! I loved hearing them describe how much this church means to them and how much they look forward to coming to Sunday service every week! Three out of the five found Christ for the first time at BHCC!
Five other people took 401 & 201 Classes and we had a fabulous home cooked dinner at the end! Great fellowship!

Many, many people have found Christ for the first time at our church recently and MANY have recommitted their lives to following Jesus!

Our small groups continue to grow and flourish! Praying to start many more in a few months!
Since going to video-taping our services and putting them on line last Fall - we are averaging between 60-70 people per week who are viewing our services on the web - this is awesome and we expect to see this continue to increase!

God has put it on the BHCC's Leader's hearts for some time now to be a vessel / spark / conduit in our area to encourage His churches to work together in harmony for the good of the Kingdom of God. Recently - He's given us more opportunities to do exactly that. We are very excited about this, knowing He is the One opening doors and making it happen!

This coming Friday, Sept.,18th, The Webster United Methodist Church and Blessed Hope CC will be co-hosting an amazing event at the Webster UMC called "We are Rochester." The vision for this event originated with the incredibly gifted band called The City Harmonic. Very recently, City Harmonic completed a tour with the NEWSBOYS! They are a Canadian Band that has won many awards for their music and is definitely on a mission from God beyond the music!

It's so cool how God puts so many things together long before we have any idea what He is planning. The Lead guitarist and singer in the City Harmonic band,...